Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Liberation
I like the word "liberation." I like it for a lot of reasons. One big reason is because it's a word that means something both in a political context and in a spiritual context. It's a central goal in both contexts -- and surprise surprise, the two forms of liberation are related!
Liberation is the achievement of complete freedom -- freedom from all constraints, freedom to live in perfect accord with one's own true nature. From a political perspective, this involves freedom from all outer sources of authority, with a freedom to engage in free cooperation, thereby creating the incalculable wonders of community life and participation in a larger society. From a spiritual perspective, it involves freedom from all attachments and illusions, with a freedom to embrace one's deepest spiritual essence and create a life in which that divine life shines through in every moment of every day.
So, liberation's big -- really big. Unlike a lot of people, I know in my heart that liberation is possible. It's not just possible -- it's the potential that we are all born to actualize!
From what I can tell, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to RESIST the inevitable tendency toward liberation. You can build a dam to slow or stop the flow of a river, and you may even succeeed in doing so for hundreds or thousands of years. But sooner or later, every ounce of that water will return to the ocean. Similarly, you can enslave the bodies, minds, and hearts of all of humanity for a few moments, a few generations, or even a few millennia. But sooner or later, we humans will find our way to freedom -- both political and spiritual.
In my moments of clarity, I feel this liberation more deeply and fully than anything else I've ever felt in my life. I can only describe it as loving non-attachment -- an experience of limitless love unfettered by any qualifications or expectations. I'm in love with the world, and no outer authority figure or inner inhibition has any power to constrain or diminish my love. Usually, I can still feel all of my everyday anxieties, preoccupations, cravings, and so on. But those cravings are diminished, and all importance that I place on them simply vanishes.
It's so hard to put into words, but here's an analogy. Think of yourself as lost in a forest in the middle of the thickest fog you can imagine. You can barely see your own hand in front of your face, much less the brush underfoot and branches just out of reach. Every step you take leaves you torn by thorns, battered by low branches, risking a twisted ankle or broken neck at every turn. You are lost, scared, alone, and surrounded by so many unknown hazards that you can't keep track of them all even if you walk at a snail's pace. And then... the fog clears! All of those protruding roots and branches that may harm you are still there -- but you can see them more clearly now. Even if you do slip and twist your ankle, it won't be the end of the world. Now that the path is clear, you are confident that you can find your way back home sooner or later, even though the path isn't clear.
That's an imperfect analogy, but it'll have to do for the time being. It's hard to describe -- remaning immersed in the details of my life and my world, perhaps more deeply than I've ever been, yet on a deeper level feeling completely free and joyful even as my ego self goes about its usual song and dance. It's certainly a conflict -- my body, emotions, and mind remaining caught up in these attachments while my heart and spirit start to transcend them. But at the same time, it's an incredibly liberating experience. I even feel like my flucuation between sustenance and poverty, friendship and lonliness, hope and despair, love and rage, has done a world of good in making this liberation possible. Because whether I was feeling one or the other, the Divine within and without me was always just as Divine as it had always been.
When I first started experiencing this liberation, it made me feel a lot of existential angst. So the petty human psychodramas that are the focus of 99% of my conscious mind are really just a steaming heap of bullshit? You mean it doesn't really matter whether or not I find true love in life, play my part in organizing a people's revolution, heal all of my wounds, or achieve any of my other great longings in life?
Basically, yeah. It's all living; it's all learning. Ultimately, the inner and outer struggles that I experience and identify with in life are pretty much just my own petty psychodrama that could just as easily be replaced with anybody else's psychodrama. In other words, it's all pointless.
But lately, on a good day, the tables have been turning [a Revolution of One?] , and I've been seeing the lighter side of this equation. It's not that my life is meaningless. Rather, the Divine is present in my life and my world even when I don't see or feel it! In my moments of good fortune and creature comforts, the Divine shines through in the joy I experience and in my search for a joy of the heart and spirit that endures beyond the comings and goings of material security. In my moments of poor fortune and suffering, the Divine shines through in the despair and rage I experience and in my struggle to create a world of greater love and liberation. Either way, the Divine is always within me, and the Divine always surrounds me.
All along, whether consciously or unconsciously, I've been trying to find my way "home" into the loving arms of the Divine. Oddly enough, it seems I never left!
I still feel like life is pretty nutty, quirky, and challenging -- especially since I still have this great tension between the feeling of freedom and love in my heart and the feelings of constraint and doubt in my body, emotions, and mind. But I feel like I've reached a turning point in my journey of liberation. In my better moments, I can recognize that my psychodramas in life are precisely that -- and also that the broader struggle for political liberation is more or less an archetypal psychodrama writ large. [In other words, our communities and societies are caught up in nutty psychodramas just like we individuals are.]
So, in my clearer moments, I feel... bah, there are still no words for it! My heart feels great hope. My ego self is still wracked with its attachments, but is listening more and more to the liberation in my heart. It's a very confusing and challenging place to be in life, but I also feel like I'm standing on the edge of an incredible source of personal and planetary transformation. If only I can embrace liberation fully, it'll change everything -- everything from my personal life to my struggle for the liberation of our communities, societies, and planet.
Here's to the hope that I learn to embrace liberation for more than just a moment at a time! If and when I do, I'll be sure to let you know...
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Liberation is the achievement of complete freedom -- freedom from all constraints, freedom to live in perfect accord with one's own true nature. From a political perspective, this involves freedom from all outer sources of authority, with a freedom to engage in free cooperation, thereby creating the incalculable wonders of community life and participation in a larger society. From a spiritual perspective, it involves freedom from all attachments and illusions, with a freedom to embrace one's deepest spiritual essence and create a life in which that divine life shines through in every moment of every day.
So, liberation's big -- really big. Unlike a lot of people, I know in my heart that liberation is possible. It's not just possible -- it's the potential that we are all born to actualize!
From what I can tell, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to RESIST the inevitable tendency toward liberation. You can build a dam to slow or stop the flow of a river, and you may even succeeed in doing so for hundreds or thousands of years. But sooner or later, every ounce of that water will return to the ocean. Similarly, you can enslave the bodies, minds, and hearts of all of humanity for a few moments, a few generations, or even a few millennia. But sooner or later, we humans will find our way to freedom -- both political and spiritual.
In my moments of clarity, I feel this liberation more deeply and fully than anything else I've ever felt in my life. I can only describe it as loving non-attachment -- an experience of limitless love unfettered by any qualifications or expectations. I'm in love with the world, and no outer authority figure or inner inhibition has any power to constrain or diminish my love. Usually, I can still feel all of my everyday anxieties, preoccupations, cravings, and so on. But those cravings are diminished, and all importance that I place on them simply vanishes.
It's so hard to put into words, but here's an analogy. Think of yourself as lost in a forest in the middle of the thickest fog you can imagine. You can barely see your own hand in front of your face, much less the brush underfoot and branches just out of reach. Every step you take leaves you torn by thorns, battered by low branches, risking a twisted ankle or broken neck at every turn. You are lost, scared, alone, and surrounded by so many unknown hazards that you can't keep track of them all even if you walk at a snail's pace. And then... the fog clears! All of those protruding roots and branches that may harm you are still there -- but you can see them more clearly now. Even if you do slip and twist your ankle, it won't be the end of the world. Now that the path is clear, you are confident that you can find your way back home sooner or later, even though the path isn't clear.
That's an imperfect analogy, but it'll have to do for the time being. It's hard to describe -- remaning immersed in the details of my life and my world, perhaps more deeply than I've ever been, yet on a deeper level feeling completely free and joyful even as my ego self goes about its usual song and dance. It's certainly a conflict -- my body, emotions, and mind remaining caught up in these attachments while my heart and spirit start to transcend them. But at the same time, it's an incredibly liberating experience. I even feel like my flucuation between sustenance and poverty, friendship and lonliness, hope and despair, love and rage, has done a world of good in making this liberation possible. Because whether I was feeling one or the other, the Divine within and without me was always just as Divine as it had always been.
When I first started experiencing this liberation, it made me feel a lot of existential angst. So the petty human psychodramas that are the focus of 99% of my conscious mind are really just a steaming heap of bullshit? You mean it doesn't really matter whether or not I find true love in life, play my part in organizing a people's revolution, heal all of my wounds, or achieve any of my other great longings in life?
Basically, yeah. It's all living; it's all learning. Ultimately, the inner and outer struggles that I experience and identify with in life are pretty much just my own petty psychodrama that could just as easily be replaced with anybody else's psychodrama. In other words, it's all pointless.
But lately, on a good day, the tables have been turning [a Revolution of One?] , and I've been seeing the lighter side of this equation. It's not that my life is meaningless. Rather, the Divine is present in my life and my world even when I don't see or feel it! In my moments of good fortune and creature comforts, the Divine shines through in the joy I experience and in my search for a joy of the heart and spirit that endures beyond the comings and goings of material security. In my moments of poor fortune and suffering, the Divine shines through in the despair and rage I experience and in my struggle to create a world of greater love and liberation. Either way, the Divine is always within me, and the Divine always surrounds me.
All along, whether consciously or unconsciously, I've been trying to find my way "home" into the loving arms of the Divine. Oddly enough, it seems I never left!
I still feel like life is pretty nutty, quirky, and challenging -- especially since I still have this great tension between the feeling of freedom and love in my heart and the feelings of constraint and doubt in my body, emotions, and mind. But I feel like I've reached a turning point in my journey of liberation. In my better moments, I can recognize that my psychodramas in life are precisely that -- and also that the broader struggle for political liberation is more or less an archetypal psychodrama writ large. [In other words, our communities and societies are caught up in nutty psychodramas just like we individuals are.]
So, in my clearer moments, I feel... bah, there are still no words for it! My heart feels great hope. My ego self is still wracked with its attachments, but is listening more and more to the liberation in my heart. It's a very confusing and challenging place to be in life, but I also feel like I'm standing on the edge of an incredible source of personal and planetary transformation. If only I can embrace liberation fully, it'll change everything -- everything from my personal life to my struggle for the liberation of our communities, societies, and planet.
Here's to the hope that I learn to embrace liberation for more than just a moment at a time! If and when I do, I'll be sure to let you know...
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